TSI has published its first working paper on impact assessement, written by TSI researchers Ruth Simsa and Olivia Rauscher, and their colleagues Christan Schober and Clara Moder. It presents the results of a review of existing scientific literature as well as official reports and policy documents on  impact measurement methodologies and results. Furthermore, it includes the results of TSI meetings with national and European third sector stakeholders in seven countries since the launch of the project in January 2014  in the form of a set of consensus impact indicators, both at micro (personal) and macro (societal) levels.

The aim of this working paper is to give an overview of the existing knowledge on impact and to elaborate a consensus-based set of impact indicators within the following theory-based impact domains: well-being and quality of life; innovation; civic engagement, empowerment, advocacy and community building; economy and human resources.

Chapter 2 addresses the question what is impact? It outlines the areas where impact is currently and offers a definition. Chapter 3 presents reviews of existing literature, official reports and policy documents. Subsequently, a theoretical framework is described in Chapter 4, in order to identify and locate the impacts occurring in the different areas. In Chapter 5 specific methods for measuring impact on different levels are introduced and compared. Finally a consensus-based set of indicators in each of the five impact domains is elaborated in chapter 6. Chapter 7 concludes the paper.

Recommended citation:
Simsa, Ruth, Rauscher, Olivia, et.al. (2014) “Methodological Guideline For Impact Assessment”, TSI Working Paper Series No. 1. Seventh Framework Programme (grant agreement 613034), European Union. Brussels: Third Sector Impact.